Safety appliance for railroad-cars.



No. 895,937. I PATENTED AUG. 1.1, 1908.

I J -T. ANDREW.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILROAD. CARS.

nrmcuron rum) AUG. 21, 1907. RENEWED mm. 19, 1908.

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' umimtoz wmmow Mb PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

J. T. ANDREW. A SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILROAD CARS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 21. 1am. nmwnn MAR. 19, 1908 2 SHEETSSHBET 2.

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'cured tothe I and to these bars or..- uiti-grally, or otherwise JAMEST. ANDREW, OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

SAFETY .APPLIANCE FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908.

Application filed August 21, 1907, Serial No. 389,562. Renewed March 19,1908. Serial N0.', 422,088.

l" 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that- I, JAMES T. ANDREW, a citizen of the United States,residing at Montgomery, in the county of Montgomery and State ofAlabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SafetyAppliances for Railroad-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and

road cars, but also to electric cars of all descriptions, and tolocomotives, now in use, withoutany substantial alterations to equipmentas it now exists.

With this object in view, my invent-ion consist-s in the constructionand combination of parts, more fully described. hereinafter andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming part of thisspecification;Fig,ure 1 represents a side view of a railroad truck, withmy invention applied thereto, showing a portion of the rail. Fig. 2represents a sectional view of a part of the truck looking from theinside of the rails outward, and with my invention applied thereto. Fig.3 represents a fragmentary view of one corner of a truck, looking downthe rails, and showing my invention as applied to each side of thewheel. Fig. 4 represents a means by which the \Yestinghouse air brakesare automatically applied to the wheels when derailmeut occurs.

Like letters indicate likeparts in all the v ews.

A represents the usual truss bracing now i employed in railroad cartrucks; B the usual journai'hoxes: the usual axles for the wheels I);and E a rail. of an ordinary rail- 5 Firmly bolted, or otherwise se- 1road track.

l'ramc are the bars F,

secured the heavy metal slides G, as shown. These bars I preferablysecured to the 5 triurk framing h he bolts II.

the wheels. That is to say, there is a. truss frame A-on each side ofeach pair of wheels, as best shown in Fig. 3. To each of these frames Ais secured journal boxes, shown, but the journal boxes B on the insideof the wheels are not so expensively made as the journal boxes B on theoutside of the wheels.

tended to-carry as much weight as the journal boxes B, and I preferablyprovide them with roller bearings-J, as bestshown in Fl 2, inorder toreduce the friction.

To the lower ortion of the truss frames A integrally, or otherwise, thecross bracing K as best shown in Fig. 3. K is G an to the truck, in themanner disclosed in my pending ap lication above.

L represents tu es or casings firmly bolted to my journal boxes B on theinside of the wheels, and encircling the wheel axles C.

The treads of the shoes or slides G are preferably much wider than thetread of the wheels, as shown, and-theyare provided with the flanges M.

By the structure disclosed, it will be observed that I support thewheels D between pairs of journal boxes B and B, that I give the truckan additional pair of truss frames A located on the inside of thewheels, and that I further stiffen this latter pair of truss frames bythe cross truss bracing frame K. It results directly fron'i this thatthe axle of the wheels being supported on each side of the same is verymuch stronger and less liable to break than if it were supported on oneside only of the wheel. I am therefore enabled to use a much lighteraxle than heretofore. In addition to this, the tubes or casings L,

This cross bracing" support the same, and since said casings are firmlysecured to the ]OLi1I1&l boxes B, and through them to the additionaltruss framing should one or more axles break the casings L 2 would serveto preventthe wheels from leavi ing the track. It also follows from thefact I that I give this additional bracing to the K truck on the insideof the wheels, that I l greatly strengthen the truck, and thereby 1enable the car to carry a heavier load than l has been possibleheretofore where my bracing is not used. The main function of thus lstrengthening the bearings for the wheels,

I d'u'blicate the framing A on the inside of These journal boxes B arenot normally in-.

referably secured to the opposite shoe since they surround the axlesadditionally on the inside 0 the wheels, I firmly secure,

on the insidcof the wheels, it follows that and for thus bracing andstrengthening the truck as a whole, however, is to enable the trucktostand the severe racking strains when the car is derailed.

Referring now to Fig. 4, N represents. the

.train pipe carrying air to the Westinghouse air brake system,represents, a valve controlling the same, and P, levers connected tosaid valve. Q represents other levers hung from the bottom of the carand suitably connected with the levers P. R represents suitableconnections between the levers Q and the journal boxes v The operationof my device is as followst- As soon as a wheel of the truck leaves the.track, the truck will drop and one of the j ournal boxes B will pullupon one of the connections R, and through its connections with thevalve 0 will cause the \Yestinghouse air brakes to be instantly appliedto the train.

At the same time, one of the shoes or slides G on one side or the otherof" the said wheel will impinge upon the track frail, and cause the carto slide along the same. The heavy bracing of the truck, abovedescribed, will enable the same to receive the blow incident to theimpinging of the said'shoe G upon the rail, and the friction along therail, taken with the friction of the other wheels to which the brakeshave been a plied, will soon take upthe energy due to the momentum ofthe train.

Where, of course, two or more wheels leave the track, two or more shoesG will impinge upon the rails, in the manner just described,

I is derailed and guided along a track by an apparatus such as abovedescribed, there does not exist the great difficulty of keeping thetrain on the track, that is commonly supposed. That is to say, I havedemonstrated time and again that if the momentum of the train is roperlydirected inthe initial stages of deraiment, it can be amply'taken careof and the trains can be derailed with perfect safety to the cars andtheir equipment. Of course, however, in such derailments the journalboxes and wheel axles receive blows,

more or less severe, and it is necessary that the trucks be braced toprovide against inury from the same. When this latter provision is made,however, the train when derailed simply slides along the track just asany other heavy moving body would do when delivering a glancing blow,and I find that if this glancing blow is analyzed and provided for inthe manner above described, the great injury now due to train Wrecks canbe obviated, because no wheel of a train is ever allowed to hit acrosstie.

In addition to theabove advantages relating to the increased safety andcarrying capacity of my truck, especial attention is called to thefollowing important features of my invention. That is to say:-It oftenoccurs in regular trains that one or more of the outer journals B, breakfrom'hot boxes or other causes. In fact, accidents of this natureconstitute one of the most fre uent' and fruitful sources of presentrailroa wrecks; for at present, as is well known, on ordinary trucksthere is nothing to revent the journal box when it is broken, romfalling to the cross ties iettin theii whole tonna 'e of the car down ifon t e tr'ack, therebyocking the truck 0 the center plate and'destroyingthe equipment with all its attendant damages. In my invention, however,when the outer journal B breaks, the tonna e of the car rests upon thejournal bearing on the inside of the wheels, asiabove intimated, andthis journal at once performs all the functions 'of the brokenjournal-B, prevents the said journal B from descending to the track, and

cross'ities, and thereby prevents the wheel from leaving the track andthe consequent derailment ofthetrain.- In fact, even if all the'outerjournals B should break, there are provided an e ual number of fournalsBto perform their unctions and since these journals B are on the insideofthe wheels and nearer togetherand to the center of the axle than are thejournals B, they are ca" able of sustaining with-safety, a greater buren than are said journals B.-

I do not wish to beunderstood as confining myself totheexact details ofconstruction and arrangement'hereinabove set forth, for it is evidentthat the same may be varied without departing from the spirit of-myinvention;

Having now disclosedmy invention, what I claim, is:- I 1. In a railroadcar truck provided with wheels, the combination of a pair of trussframes A on each side ofsaid wheels, a bar F on each side of each wheelsecured to said truss frames, slides or shoes G, on said bars, and across truss framing K between each pair of inside shoes G, substantiallyas described.

2. In a railroad car truck,provided with wheels and axles, thecombination of a pairof truss frames A on each side of said wheels, abar F on each side'of each wheel secured to said trusaframes, slides orshoes G, on said bars and integral therewith, cross truss framing Kbetween each pair of inside sheen-and a pair of journal boxes supportedon each side of each wheel by said frames A, substantiallyas described.

3. In a railroad car truck, provided with wheels and axles, thecombination of a pair of truss frames A on each side of said wheels, abar F on each'side of each wheel secured to said truss frames, slides orshoes G, on said bars and integral therewith, cross truss fram-' ing.Kbetween each pair of inside shoes, a; pairv of journal boxes supportedon each side of each wheel by said frames'A, and a casing or tube Lencircling each axle and rigidly secured to said truss frames,substantially as described. p

4. In a railroad car truck provided with wheels and axles, thecombination of a pair of truss frames A on each side of said wheels, abar F on each side of each wheel firmly secured to each frame A, slidesor shoes G hav ing treads broader than the treads of said wheels,integral with said bars, cross truss framing K between each pair ofinside shoes G, a journal box B supported by the frame A on the outsideof each Wheel, and a journal box B provided with ball bearings supportedby the frame A on the inside of said wheel, and'a casing or tube L madein two parts 5 bolted together, encircling the axle and firmly securedto each journal-box B, sub- 'stantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

' JAMES T. ANDREW.

Witnesses:

, R. M. PARKER, l F. C. BACHE.

